Sandberg holds damage-control meetings with minority groups

Seeking to address concerns over Russian-linked ads that ran on Facebook during the 2016 election, COO Sheryl Sandberg met this week in Washington with leaders from Latino, Muslim-American and African-American rights groups, an unprecedented outreach for the company.

The meetings, which occurred at Facebook’s DC office, just two blocks from the White House, came in the wake of the company’s disclosures that it collected about $100,000 in Russian-bought advertising on the network during the last presidential race, most of which focused on divisive social and political messages.

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“It was the first time they’ve reached out to these affinity groups,” said María Teresa Kumar, the President and CEO of Voto Latino, who joined leaders from several other Latino groups in an hour long meeting Wednesday with Sandberg and a handful of other Facebook executives.

“She brought the meeting together,” Kumar said of Sandberg, “She was very open, she recognized that there were missteps, that was why we were having this conversation.”

Facebook also came under fire last month when ProPublica discovered that advertisers were able to target their campaigns to users who’d expressed interest in hateful ideas and topics, a problem the company has said it’s now addressed. But according to Kumar, the Russian incursion into the social network was a main topic of conversation.

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“It was talking about the issues with Russia and with civic engagement as well,” Kumar said. “These communities have become vulnerable as a result of these targeted movements.”

In a September 6 statement, Facebook’s chief security officer, Alex Stamos, acknowledged, “The ads and accounts appeared to focus on amplifying divisive social and political messages across the ideological spectrum — touching on topics from LGBT matters to race issues to immigration to gun rights.”

Facebook declined to comment on the meetings this week, other than in a statement from Erin Egan, its vice president of US Public Policy: “Facebook is an important part of many people’s lives. That’s an enormous responsibility – and one that we take incredibly seriously. We are continually learning and improving – and the meetings Sheryl held in D.C. are a key part of that effort.”

Kumar’s meeting with Sandberg was limited to principals from the various Latino groups; the intimate setting, Kumar said, helped contribute to an open dialogue. She added, though, that she would still like to view the ads and see them publicly released, so groups like hers could help prepare communities for how they may be targeted.

“I think it was more, kind of listening what’s on people’s minds, which is refreshing. In this environment, I think we need to have more of those types of conversations,” she said. “I also think that as organizations that do advocacy, we are very much behind the eight-ball when it comes to providing a firewall when it comes to predatory advertising. It would help to have a partnership with Facebook.”

While in DC this week, Sandberg also met with lawmakers and sat down for an extended interview with Axios’ Mike Allen, part of an apparent PR campaign. In Sandberg’s meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, members confronted her over the lack of diversity on the Facebook board and the Russian bought ads which positioned Black Live Matter as a divisive wedge.

He noted that while Facebook has disclosed that some 470 now deactivated Russian-linked accounts bought $100,000 in advertising on Facebook, it is not known whether the Russian Facebook campaign was limited to that.

“Everything I’ve seen Facebook due to date is basically evidence to me that they’ve really been caught off guard by this whole situation and they’re really not sure how to handle it,” Mele said. “And I actually think that’s okay. This has caught everybody off guard.”

According to a source familiar with the meetings, the other groups in the meeting with Kumar, of Voto Latino, included New America, UnidosUS, FWD.us, National Association of Latino Elected Officials and the League of United Latin American Citizens. Members from those groups either declined or did not respond to request for comments. Facebook declined to say which African-American and Muslim groups met with Sandberg.

Kumar said that certainly no solutions were reached and that no firm action items were established at the end of her meeting, but she hoped for a productive relationship going forward.

“In order for us to really be able to combat this misinformation, there needs to be a strategic partnership,” she said. “When there is engagement and acknowledgement that the current environment isn’t perfect, that is an opening. That is a really strong step. It can’t be a one off conversation. It has to be a continuous conversation, because we are living in a completely different world.”